Menopause: The Basics

It
all depends on your perspective.Whether
you grieve when menopausal symptoms appear or you celebrate.Many

women
grieve because it signals a loss not only of youth, but the ability to have
any more children.

Other
women, however, view menopause as a liberating event  free from the
monthly menstrual cycle that often left them depressed and riddled with
pain.

In
either case, your goal is to make that transition to non-childbearing status
as pain free and symptom free as possible.

Technically,
menopause isn't a disease that needs cured.Nor is it a disorder.It's
a natural biological process. Ask some women, though, and that's not what it
feels like.Many females are
plagued with a variety of symptoms from sleep disruptions to hot flashes to
mood swings  to name just a few.

If
you want to get technical, a woman doesnt enter menopause until one year
after her final menstrual period. The average age this occurs in a woman is
about 51. But women as young as 35 may enter this process. This belies the
fact that physical symptoms often appear long before that one-year
anniversary mark hits.Physical
signs of impending menopause may include irregular periods, dryness of the
vagina, hot flashes, decreased fertility, as well as problems with sleeping.

The
physical symptoms are caused by hormonal changes in the body.The emotional signs, though, are often due to mistaken notions and
perspectives about the cessation of the menstrual cycle itself.Far too many females mistakenly believe that menopause signals that
the end of their lives is near.Nothing
could be farther from the truth.Some
individuals reach menopause in their early 40s.That means they may have another 35 to 40 years left to live.Life is barely half over.

Other
women fear that the onset of menopause may extinguish their femininity and
their sexuality.On the
contrary, a woman in menopause is finally able to enjoy the sexual act in a
fuller and liberating fashion than ever before  without the need to worry
about pregnancy.

Many
people have the mistaken notion that menopause is something that happens
within several days  or at most weeks.The truth is that your body goes through menopause slowly, and the
physical changes associated with it occur over years.For this reason, medical experts usually divide it into two phases.

The
first is described as the perimenopausal stage.This is characterized by the initial signs and signals of menopause,
even though you're still experiencing your normal menstrual cycle.During this phase, your hormonal level rises and falls unevenly.You may experience occasional hot flashes and other symptoms
routinely associated with the process.This phase lasts in some women as long as four to five years.

Once
you have gone a full 12 months without a period, you've reached menopause.Your ovaries produce very little estrogen compared to your younger
years and produce no progesterone at all.Moreover, your body no longer releases eggs.

Once
this 12-month mark is over, you are technically, postmenopausal

Introduction

In
most women, menopause is a natural process.But in some instances it can be induced due to surgery or other
medical treatments or conditions.This
can mean a loss of menstrual cycles earlier than what most women experience.

Perhaps
the foremost reason for an early menopause is a hysterectomy in which both
the uterus and the ovaries are removed.Called a total hysterectomy, this prompts menopause in a woman
without her experiencing the normal perimenopausal phase.The chances are increased, in this setting, that you'll
experience some of the physical symptoms most noted with this change of
life, like hot flashes.

If
on the other hand your hysterectomy involves only removal of the uterus, and
not your ovaries, you probably won't experience menopause.You ovaries will still be able to release eggs and still
produce estrogen and progesterone.

Sometimes,
a woman's ovaries stop functioning for no apparent reason before the age of
40.Called premature ovarian
failure, about one percent of women experience this. The causes for this are
varied.They could be due to
genetic factors or because of the presence of autoimmune diseases. In many
instances, no cause at all can be discovered.

Even
though menopause is a natural part of the aging process of all women, it's
still vital to see your health care practitioner during both the
perimenopausal phase and the postmenopausal stage of the process.She'll be able to provide you all the necessary preventive
health care measures you'll need, as well as other vital health concerns.

If
you've missed a period, and aren't sure if you're starting menopause, you'll
want to visit your health care practitioner to see if you're pregnant.
She'll no doubt take your medical history, perform a pelvic examination and
if necessary, order a pregnancy test.

For
most women, self-diagnosis is all that is necessary to recognize that
they're perimenopausal.However,
you may have concerns about some of the symptoms.In response, your health care practitioner may do further evaluation.There are blood tests available to diagnose whether you're
perimenopausal.

Your
health care practitioner checks your blood for the level of two hormones,
follicle-stimulating hormone  FSH  and estrogen.As menopause occurs, your system's FSH levels increase while your
estrogen levels decrease.Depending
on the results of these blood tests, your health care practitioner may also
order another blood test  this one to test your level of
thyroid-stimulating hormone.Hypothyroidism
can cause symptoms that are similar to those of menopause.Hypothyroidism occurs when you thyroid doesn't produce enough of
hormone.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.